sim cards - what does "locked" mean?

[jenna]

iv put my old phone on ebay and put that the sim card is "unlocked" as i thought this meant that the card still works (eg: you can top it up and actually call people on it) but i searched for the same phone to see what theres were going for and some one has put "locked to t-mobile". Now i dont know if my description is right and i cant change it because some one has bidded on it!

Does any one know what a locked or unlocked sim card is?

 

[Minime]

Many companies lock their phones to their service so an O2 phone cannot be used if you want to put an orange sim in. For example I have a contract O2 phone which means I get a free upgrade every year. I cant then put an orange PAYG sim in it as its locked to O2. I could put an O2 PAYG sim in and it will work.

If you take it to a market stall they can tell you if its locked or just ask a mate who's on a different network to you to try their sim in your [hone to see if its locked.

 

[jenna]

i have a t mobile phone and sim card and iv put that the sim card is unlocked is that true? it can be used in another phone its just the phone only takes tmobile sim cards.

 

Then it's locked I think, unlocked means you can use any network simcard in it.

 

[Minime]

Its your phone thats locked to T-Mobile. The sim belongs to T-Mobile so you can use it in any phone but to top it up you pay T-Mobile e.g you wouldnt buy £10 orange airtime and try to put that on your t-mobile sim.

You can get phones unlocked though.

 

[cassi]

Say if someone bought you're phone and wanted to put their own simcard in it so they could keep their own data and number...it wouldnt work...

I think i have unlocking software on my pc somewhere il have a mooch. otherwise costs a fiver down you're local backstreet mobile shop or market